Fugitive Faith

Conversations on Spiritual, Environmental, and Community Renewal

Edited by Benjamin S. Webb

Most Jews and Christians are so absorbed by social life that they almost never get around to thinking how to bear themselves faithfully in nature. Benjamin Webb, an Episcopal priest in Iowa, decided that as long as religious institutions were ignoring ecology, he needed to seek out some mentors for inspiration. His interviews with these folks--including Robert Bellah, Wes Jackson, Kathleen Norris, Steven Rockefeller, and many of the other people who are effectively integrating theology and ecology--are collected in Fugitive Faith. This book discusses the relationship between prayer and social change, the tensions and harmonies between ecological and biblical teachings, and dirt-practical stuff like the best ways to plow a soybean field. It's a fine introduction to some of the most pressing issues in the area of theology and ecology, an easy read, and best of all, it's split up into tidy, bedtime-reading-length chapters. —Michael Joseph Gross (via)